A SEAL’s Honor / A SEAL’s Strength (Military Match) by J. M. Stewart-reviews
A SEAL’S HONOR
(Military Match #3)
by JM Stewart
Release Date: January 16,2018
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, romance
Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo /
ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 16, 2018
Rules are made to be broken . . .
When it comes to dating, ex-Navy SEAL Marcus Denali has a few simple rules. Never date a coworker. Never date a friend’s sister. And never ever date a girl whose brother is a coworker, a friend, and a fellow SEAL. So why would Marcus dance so closely—and flirt so shamelessly—with Mandy Lawson? Simple. It’s a Fourth of July masquerade ball. He doesn’t know she’s his buddy’s little sister. And once the masks come off, the real fireworks begin . . .
Mandy doesn’t care about the rules. She’s been crushing on Marcus for years, and she’s not giving up now that she has proof he wants her too. She has a plan to show this military man some moves he never learned in basic training. And Marcus is going to learn that some rules-the rules of attraction—are just too strong to fight.
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REVIEW: A SEAL’S HONOR is the third (and final) instalment in JM Stewart’s contemporary, adult MILITARY MATCH erotic, romance series focusing on three former military friends who search for love using Military Match dot com. This is forty-year old former Navy SEAL and mechanic Marcus Denali, and thirty-year old wedding planner Mandy Lawson’s story line. A SEAL’S HONOR can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. Mandy is Trent Lawson’s sister (A Seal’s Courage #1).
NOTE: There may be some triggers for more sensitive readers including suicide, PTDS and bi-polar disorder.
Told from dual third person perspectives (Mandy and Marcus) A SEAL’S HONOR follows the friends to lovers/fake relationship trope between former Navy SEAL and mechanic Marcus Denali, and wedding planner Mandy Lawson. For years, Mandy Lawson has had a crush on her brother’s friend Marcus Denali, and with the upcoming Fourth of July masquerade ball, finding a date through Military Match dot com would place our hero in the direct line of fire. Enter Marcus Denali, former Navy SEAL, and the man with whom Mandy would fall in love. What ensues is the building relationship between Marcus and Mandy, a relationship with rules and an end date, but a relationship that becomes all too real, too soon.
Marcus has lost too many people in his life with the exception of the grandmother he has always adored. Hoping to keep his grandmother happy, Marcus approaches Mandy with a tentative offer to become his ‘fake girlfriend’ for the next few weeks to appease the woman who raised him like her own. But Marcus has demons including PTSD and the death of his sister that continue to haunt him both day and night. Mandy Lawson is willing to abide by the rules Marcus lays down but behind the scenes our heroine suspects that heartbreak and pain will follow in its’ wake. Marcus doesn’t do relationships, and in this he has placed an end date on the ‘fake’ romance, a romance that doesn’t feel fake, at all.
The relationship between Marcus and Mandy begins as acquaintances and friends, that grows into something more when Marcus makes Mandy an offer she cannot refuse. Mandy, in return, wants all of the benefits of a ‘real’ girlfriend including nights and weekends with the man with whom she is falling in love The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
We are reintroduced to Trent Lawson and Lauren Hayes (A Seal’s Courage #1), and Gabriel Donovan and Stephanie Mason (A Seal’s Strength #2), as well as the introduction of Marcus’s grandmother-a woman who sees more than she is letting on.
A SEAL’S HONOR is a quick and sexy read; a spicy and spirited romance between two people caught up in a game that will end with heartbreak and anticipated rejection. A SEAL’S HONOR has moments of playful romance and growing love; passion and seduction; pain and sorrow. JM Stewart writes a satisfying series of military men who have found love when they least expected.
I will add, that the similarities between all three instalments cannot be overlooked from the basic story line premise, to the relationship phobias and time line end dates, as well as the use of similar phrases, expressions and language.
Copy supplied by Netgalley
Reviewed by Sandy
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A SEALS’s STRENGTH
(Military Match #2 )
by JM Stewart
Release Date: October 3, 2017
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, romance
Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo /
ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 3,2017
A sizzling new series about three friends looking for love-and the sexy SEALs who are ready to fulfill their craziest fantasies.
This second chance was worth the wait . . .
As a SEAL, Gabriel Donovan did the toughest jobs imaginable without blinking an eye. But three years after his wife’s death, the idea of dating still makes him sick to his stomach. His daughter desperately needs a mother, though, and there’s nothing Gabe won’t do for his little girl.
Stephanie Mason doesn’t run from anything. Not even coming face to face with the “one that got away” on a blind date. Steph’s body vividly remembers every single thing about Gabe and while some things have changed, the way he makes her feel sure as hell hasn’t.
Gabe and Steph know that love comes with risks, but if they’re brave enough, this second chance might just bring them the love of a lifetime.
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REVIEW: A SEAL’S STRENGTH is the second instalment in JM Stewart’s contemporary, adult MILITARY MATCH erotic, romance series focusing on three former military friends who search for love using Military Match dot com. This is former Navy SEAL and single father Gabriel Donovan, and attorney Stephanie Mason’s story line. A SEAL’S STRENGTH can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.
Told from dual third person perspectives (Gabe and Stephanie) A SEAL’S STRENGTH is a second chance romance between former Navy SEAL and single father Gabriel Donovan, and Attorney Stephanie Mason. Eleven years earlier, after the sudden death of his parents, Gabriel Donovan walked out of Stephanie Mason’s life without a backwards glance. A brief affair with another woman pulled Gabriel into a quick marriage and fatherhood, only to be left a single father upon the death of his wife seven years later. Fast forward to present day wherein Gabriel finds himself using the services of his buddy’s wife’s online dating service-Military Match dot com-only to come face to face with a past he has never forgotten. Enter Stephanie Mason, the woman Gabriel would never forget. What ensues is the rebuilding romance between Stephanie and Gabriel, but a romance with an expiry date, set out from the start.
A SEAL’S STRENGTH is a quick read; a story of family and friendship; of heartbreak and loss; of moving forward and letting go of the past. Gabriel doesn’t do relationships but his loneliness since the death of his wife forces our hero to move out of the past. Rekindling his friendship and relationship with Stephanie Mason reveals eleven years of heartbreak for a woman who never got over her first and only love. The premise is entertaining and engaging; the characters are charismatic and colorful; the romance is passionate and hot but, one again, I have issues with the use of a certain four-letter word I find unnecessary in the romance genre.
Copy supplied by Netgalley
Reviewed by Sandy
